Dog Community

Switch to WET. Good idea?

Posted : 6/4/2009 6:55:11 AM

After 3+ months on Prednisone, Kobi has developed an incredible thirst and an increased appetite. I am trying get weight off to relieve the stress on his 'good' leg. I am wondering about switching him to a wet (canned) dog food. I would imagine that it could help alleviate some of his thirst and if wet portions are larger(?) = possibly satisfy some of the hunger.

Kobi has had chronic loose stools for ever. When he became ill the vet wanted him to lose weight and prescribed Hill's RX WR. From what I had read on the forum, this is not considered the best kibble but he has done really well on it and has had consistent firm stools. So I am a little reluctant to change for that reason.

What are your thoughts? Can I expect looser bowel movements? He gets 2 cups of dry kibble. How much wet would he get? Do you think I should switch or leave well enough alone? What about brands?

sl2crmeg

Posted : 6/4/2009 7:37:15 AM

Pirate was like that on pred, too. I think I gave him mostly wet food, at the time. You can mix it with a LOT of water so I think it kind of helps their thirsty-ness.

You could always just start slow, maybe a teaspoon at a time, and work your way off the kibble. I've heard that sensitive-tummy dogs do well on California Natural or Natural Balance.

KarissaKS

Posted : 6/4/2009 11:06:46 AM

I'm not a fan of a totally canned diet. I get extra water into my dog by covering his dry food with warm water. I mostly do this to make him eat slower, but it does have the added bonus of making sure he gets water into him as well. I often top their food with a bit of canned as a treat -- I would go broke feeding an entirely canned diet.

I assume you have tried feeding canned pumpkin and yogurt to address the loose stool issue?

brookcove

Posted : 6/4/2009 12:40:49 PM

Since you need to feed fewer calories anyway, it's a good time to explore feeding canned or something else. Another alternative is reconstituted dehydrated food like Honest Kitchen. When mixed up, it's like a goopy soup. You can get samples so you don't have to spend tons of money to see whether your dog likes it.

Another old trick to reduced the calories in a food is to add sodium-free canned green beans. Dogs seem to like them and they add fiber to help stabilize irritable colons.

Considering the digestive issues, I'd suggest adding tripe, too. Tripett has some wonderful products. I'm rotating through their 100% tripe products to add to my dogs' food, but they also have complete diets. I like Canine Caviar, too.

Good luck!

willowchow

Posted : 6/4/2009 4:57:02 PM

Willow has been getting all canned since Prednisone. She was drinking and drinking after kibble and making herself sick. I was worried about bloat so I went all canned. I add lots of meat and fish too. She gets probably 1-2 cans per day. I break it into three meals. If he's having good results with the w/d kibble you could try the cans and see how that goes. Willow went from dry prescription to canned without trouble.

grab01

Posted : 6/4/2009 7:14:09 PM

Canned food does help a lot with thirst. Ginger was on canned for about a year and I rarely saw her at the water bowl. (her canned also had water added, for her megaesophagus) She is on dry again now (because in her case she can't have large portions, and the dry makes her feel more full than the amount of canned she can have) and she drinks much more often